The Big Picture with Kal Penn

© National Geographic Channels/Scott Gries
The Big Picture with Kal Penn

Synopsis

The Big Picture with Kal Penn is a new series from National Geographic Studios that uses data and mapping to make powerful connections and visualize our world in amazing new ways. Hosted by Kal Penn, each episode will uncover surprising facts on a topic (like technology, money, food, crime or sports) and generate maps and other visuals to help us understand "the big picture." The series reveals how our world works, how we got here, and even where we're headed - while exploring powerful stories from the real people and communities behind the data.

Episodes

Season 1
  • Crime, Inc.

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    The Big Picture with Kal Penn dives into the big business that is "Crime Incorporated" to see what makes crime the richest enterprise in the world. Kal takes a close look at Crime Inc's books to reveal the hot spots for illicit activity in the United States and around the world. We start in rural Vermont, where a young man running his family's dairy farm lets us peek into the dark world of illegal drugs in the Green Mountain State, the illicit drug use capitol of the United States. We'll also spend some time on the "inside" in the prison capitol of the United States, Cañon City, Colorado. And finally we'll ride along with the police as they fight...

  • Treasure Hunt

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    The Big Picture with Kal Penn takes you on the hunt for real treasure, that can be found anywhere from your own home to buried deep underground, if you just follow the data. Today's treasure maps are made by following the numbers and tracing history, and they can lead to some really big rewards. We travel underground to gold-central, in the mines of Nevada where one man is striking it rich in what can be considered a modern day Gold Rush. Traveling east to a little town in Ohio we meet someone who may be the luckiest man in the state for stumbling across $3 million worth of baseball cards in his aunt's attic - or was it more than dumb luck? Finally...

  • Surviving Nature's Fury

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    Kal Penn delves into the realm of natural disaster, to show how some of the hardest hit places on the planet are faring against nature. In San Angelo we learn how to make it rain. In Iceland - it's man versus volcano. New Madrid, Missouri - quakes, tornadoes and floods . Why not live elsewhere?

  • Going Viral

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    Uncovering what causes and drives pandemics around the world, what can make them even more dangerous. At a Chinese animal market where one of the most infamous pandemics started. Into the lab fighting the most dangerous creatures, the mosquito. A top-secret lab preparing us for bioterrorism.

  • Off The Map

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    Kal Pen explores the hidden, mislabeled, and just plain missing places that fall off the map. He investigates mysterious government communications bunkers and shows how a group of citizen scientists is shaking up the undersea exploration community; visits the underground caverns.

  • Eat This!

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    With thousands of edible plants species to choose from and meat ranging from crickets to opossum "Whats for dinner?" gets some very surprising answers. Whats not-so-normal, not-so-legal and downright strange. From Orlando the pizza capital of America to Mexico where grasshoppers are going gourmet.

  • Space Invasion

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    Kal Penn еxplores the everyday ways we've made ourselves at home in outer space. In Utah desert people with aspirations to colonize Mars simulate living on the red planet. In Haviland for meteorites that fell 40,000 years ago. We build and launch a homemade satellite.

  • Body City

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    The human body is so complicated, it can be hard to grasp exactly what's going on inside. Let's compare it to something we see every day, working all around us: a city.

  • Born To Be Wired

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    Don't be fooled-the internet isn't invisible and wireless. Our data is not stored "on a cloud". Today's cyber-world is made up of real places, and those locations matter more than you might expect.

  • Cash for Trash

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    Waste? Garbage? Yucky stuff that smells bad? Whether were trashing it, reusing it or flushing it, the whole idea with junk is getting as far away from it as possible.

  • Fantasy Sports

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    Kal Penn puts together the ultimate fantasy sports franchise. Kal finds best in everything from players to fans, even mascots. See why a town in Louisiana sends so many football players to the pros, what makes cheering for Argentinian soccer team so dangerous, what it takes to be a mascot.

  • Sex Drive

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    A look at what's going on in bedrooms all across the world. How the tiny town Hurley surpasses Las Vegas for the title of "Sin City", how many grandparents are getting it on in Delray Beachand , how in Switzerland ordering a sexual favor can be as easy as getting a Big Mac.